The place Yura arrived at in a rush was the house of her cousin Eun Su and Baek Jin Ho.

As she got out of the car, she realized she hadn’t brought even a simple bouquet of flowers despite not visiting for a long time. Yura considered finding a nearby flower shop, but remembering it was business hours, she just rang the doorbell.

Eun Su’s bright voice came through the intercom. As the gate opened and Yura entered, a well-tended garden greeted her.

Without time to look around, she headed straight for the entrance where Eun Su opened the door to welcome her.

“You’re here?”

“Elder sister, have you been well? I was in such a rush, I came empty-handed.”

“No need to worry about such things between us. It’s fine.”

Though Yura wasn’t large, Eun Su was even smaller in stature.

Eun Su raised her arm high to pat Yura’s head, who was wearing high heels, but instead wrapped her arms around Yura’s waist. Yura smiled at the affectionate, gentle touch.

“How are you feeling?”

“Good. How have you been? Is married life fun?”

“Lee Hyun isn’t exactly a fun person.”

“That’s true. Hehe.”

They were busy catching up as they entered the house. Eun Su, currently 5 months pregnant, couldn’t attend the wedding due to her weak constitution.

Yura stared curiously at Eun Su’s belly, which showed little change despite not having seen her for three months since early pregnancy.

“Does the belly not grow much normally when pregnant?”

“It varies for each mother. Mine isn’t showing much.”

Eun Su, seemingly in a good mood with a constant smile, shared a story about a mother she saw at the obstetrician.

“At the obstetrician’s, there was a mother who looked full-term at just 5 months. She seemed to be struggling so much, it made me feel fortunate mine isn’t showing as much.”

“Ah, I see.”

Jin Ho sighed softly as he watched the two women chattering away without even entering the living room.

He felt sorry for Eun Su, who was so eager to talk like this when someone visited, as she rarely went out except to walk in the garden due to her weak constitution.

He wanted to let her chat to her heart’s content, but since Yura’s visit was work-related, he regretfully needed to wrap things up.

“Eun Su, we need to talk about work.”

“Oh my, look at me. Ask the housekeeper to bring us something to drink. I’ll go upstairs to rest.”

“I’ll come visit another time. Today’s not good.”

“It’s alright.”

Jin Ho told Yura to wait in the study and took Eun Su to the bedroom.

Eun Su’s face was visibly tired from exercising by walking around the garden several times before Yura arrived. Jin Ho finally turned to leave only after laying her down on the bed, despite her insistence that she was fine and urging him to go.

Jin Ho asked the housekeeper for cold drinks and entered the study. Yura’s tense face as she sat on the sofa seemed to reflect her current state of mind.

“What’s the matter?”

“Oh Se Jin, I think there might be a problem.”

Jin Ho’s expression stiffened slightly as he sat across from her. He already knew about Oh Se Jin’s issue that Yura had hoped to avoid.

He had unintentionally witnessed it during his several visits to Europe to contact him. And Oh Se Jin had preemptively dismissed Jin Ho’s curiosity, claiming it was just a symptom of stress.

Of course, Jin Ho had also checked with the IF Management representative, but received the same answer as Oh Se Jin.

Despite this concerning factor, Jin Ho had pushed forward with this performance. So far, that hand tremor symptom hadn’t caused any problems in performances, and he thought it would be fine if managed well.

“Hand tremors?”

Yura frowned at Jin Ho’s rather calm voice.

“You knew?”

“Roughly. What did the professor say?”

“He said to get a detailed examination, but Se Jin is refusing.”

“That’s something we can’t do anything about.”

His excessively calm and composed demeanor was irritating. It seemed Baek Jin Ho’s cunning side had become more prominent since bringing Oh Se Jin on board. This is why they say all the Baeks are foxes.

“I’m worried it might become a problem later. The professor said it could improve quickly with early treatment, but since he’s refusing…”

“We’re a concert planning company, not management. That’s IF’s problem to deal with.”

“That may be true, but I’m worried it might disrupt the performance.”

Yura’s concern was for the concert. The PR team had already submitted numerous proposals for review, and planning related to the performance was almost complete.

The biggest problem was that if something went wrong in the middle of the performance and it had to be canceled immediately, there was no artist to replace him.

“Even without that, I’m already in a miserable position in the middle of all this.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Yura’s face involuntarily scrunched up, wondering what new issue this could be on top of her already aching head.

“Baek Lee Hyun and Jin Yu Geon are taking turns scolding me to do something about Oh Se Jin, and I’m scared to death.”

“Elder brother?”

Yura blinked in bewilderment.

It was entirely possible given that they both disliked Oh Se Jin, but she hadn’t thought they would be nagging like this without her knowledge. Yu Geon and Lee Hyun hadn’t shown any signs in front of Yura.

“How nice for our sister-in-law to have so many white knights around.”

Yura furrowed her brow and pouted at Jin Ho’s sly smile.

“It’s not funny when the main culprit says that.”

“Among them, you scare me the most.”

It was a joke Jin Ho often carried around. Yura clicked her tongue at the words that held not an ounce of sincerity.

Wouldn’t Jin Ho, who shows bold and unconventional moves without fear of anything in the world, be the most frightening existence? No, perhaps Oh Eun Su, who tames such a Baek Jin Ho, is the most frightening being.

Jin Ho gently patted the back of Yura’s hand, trying to ease her worries.

“I’m keeping an eye on it too, so don’t worry too much about Oh Se Jin’s problem.”

Still, Yura couldn’t shake off the ominous feeling.

The darkest hour before dawn.

A phone rang loudly in Yura’s bedroom where she was sound asleep. Yura answered the phone without even opening her eyes.

“He-!”

Before her heavily sleep-laden voice could utter a word, a thunderous shout pierced her ear.

-Come home right now!

“Ah, Father? Hello?”

The voice was clearly her father’s, but the call ended before she could confirm who it was. Yura checked the screen with a face full of bewilderment. The caller had been her father.

“What’s going on?”

As she was about to call back with a dumbfounded expression, a short message arrived from Yu Geon.

“An article?”

At the sudden mention of an article, Yura quickly opened the internet. She then blanched at the scandal article splashed across the portal site’s main page.

“W-what is this?”

Articles with sensational headlines like ‘CH Daughter-in-law Jin Yura, Secret Meeting with Pianist Oh Se Jin’ were adorning the news screen.

Yura was appalled when she checked one of the articles that even included photos.

The photo showed her heading to the hospital with Oh Se Jin yesterday. Unfortunately, it captured them getting into the car together after she picked him up at the hotel, lending credibility to the article.

“This is crazy.”

The moment she saw the article, Yura thought of Lee Hyun. She urgently looked for him, but he was nowhere to be found, not in the bedroom or anywhere else in the house.

“Did he already leave?”

She was more worried about Lee Hyun than her father’s wrath or the nonsensical article. She felt anxious, wondering if he might misunderstand after seeing this article.

-The customer is currently unavailable…

Yura called Lee Hyun several times, but the automated voice kept repeating the same message.

“His phone is off too.”

He wasn’t the type to turn off his phone for no reason. He was definitely by her side when she fell asleep, but now he wasn’t home even though the sun hadn’t risen. This likely meant he had already seen this article too.

Moreover, the company might be in an uproar right now because of this incident. The reason was the article that prominently featured the daughter-in-law of CH as if it were front-page news.

Yura found the business card she had received from Lee Hyun’s secretary in her vanity drawer. Secretary Ahn had given it to her to keep just in case, but she had put it in the drawer thinking there wouldn’t be any reason to contact him.

After several rings, when the other party finally answered, Yura composed her sinking voice.

“Ahem, hello.”

-Yes, madam.

“Where is the vice president?”

-He’s currently unable to take calls due to urgent business.

The urgent business was obviously her scandal article, as anyone could see. Yura bit her lip and asked carefully.

“It’s… because of my article, right?”

-…Yes.

Hearing Secretary Ahn’s hesitant answer, Yura felt disheartened. However, meeting Lee Hyun now wouldn’t solve the problem.

“Please tell him to contact me when he has time later.”

-Understood.

After ending the call with Secretary Ahn, Yura hurriedly prepared to leave. She was anxious that her angry father might summon Lee Hyun.

She didn’t want him to hear unnecessary words because of her. Jin Kang Su was someone who would spew hurtful words without restraint when consumed by anger, wounding the other person.

She didn’t want Lee Hyun to experience that miserable and unjust feeling. Above all, she didn’t want to show him that embarrassing situation anymore.

Yura got in her car in a hurry, having only changed clothes without time to wash up. Then she called Yu Geon to assess the situation.

“Elder brother, it’s me. How’s Father?”

-He’s furious. Don’t come home.

“How can I not go? He’s making such a fuss.”

Kang Su was the type to come looking for you at home if you didn’t come when he called. He hated nothing more in the world than having his orders disobeyed, so she needed to quell his anger before unnecessary sparks flew in the wrong direction.

As she sped down the empty road, Yu Geon’s deep sigh came through.

-Sigh, what happened?

“I just accompanied Oh Se Jin as his manager because he was sick. There’s nothing more to it.”

-Lee Hyun is working on blocking the article now, so it should be fine soon.

“I know. I’m almost there.”

Yu Geon’s comforting words made her think of Lee Hyun again. He was already a busy person, and now he probably left at dawn without sleep to handle her groundless scandal article.

This wasn’t the life he married into. Their marriage was only meant to last 2 years, but it hadn’t even been a month and things were already this chaotic. How much must he be regretting this marriage?

Though it wasn’t meant to be a permanent marriage, she wanted to get along well for the time they were together.

She didn’t know how Lee Hyun felt, but Yura wished to cherish this time preciously. However, she was upset beyond endurance that even this wasn’t going her way due to the scandal with Oh Se Jin.

Yura hesitated to get out even after arriving at her parents’ home. She kept worrying about Lee Hyun, whom she couldn’t reach.

Lee Hyun always sought out Yura first, without needing to be contacted separately. No matter where he was or what he was doing. So his absence felt unfamiliar.

“Sigh, it’s the first time I’ve felt this anxious about not being able to reach Baek Lee Hyun.”